The Retail Cardiac Chain of Survival; or, How to Survive a Heart Attack at the Mall

Written by Don Ross

What if your customer suddenly clutched his chest and passed out in front of you? Do you know what to do?

The federal Cardiac Arrest Survival Act (CASA) states that "A successful chain of survival requires first person on scene to take rapid and simple initial steps to care for patient and assure that patient promptly enters emergency medical services system. These steps include--

Recognize an emergency and activate EMS;

Begin CPR; and

Use an automated external defibrillator (AED) if one is available at scene."

While most bystanders in USA and Mexico are not required to get involved, one would hope that common dictate of humanity, to help our fellow human beings, would prevail over any other concerns. Standard precautions are enough to prevent transmission of most diseases and Good Samaritan Laws protect us from being sued, as long as there is no gross negligence. In fact, both State and Federal laws protect all parties involved, including rescuers, trainers, facilities, etc. According to National Center for Early Defibrillation, "...organizations that carefully adopt and implement early defibrillation programs face a lower legal liability risk than those that do not." So, let's explore this cardiac chain of survival and how a savvy mall rat could use it to land their next job or promotion.

Recognize Emergency

Pay attention to your customers. If one doesn't look well, ask how he feels and if you may be of assistance. Know signals of a heart attack:

Sweating, difficulty breathing

Persistent pressure in chest, side or back

If he does not look well, but does not want your help, keep an eye from a distance. Don't forget about him. Just watch. If you are still concerned, call 9-1-1. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Activate EMS, Emergency Medical System

If he goes unconscious, send someone immediately to call 9-1-1. In a mall, you are rarely by yourself, so use others to your advanage. Send someone to call security to bring AED and yet another to fetch a First Aid kit.

Begin ABCs of CPR

OpenAirway (head tilt, chin lift).

Give two Breaths.

Hurricane Teaching Tip

Written by Freda J. Glatt, M.A.

With this severe, active, hurricane season underway, here are some ideas to make areas of curriculum relevant to your children. If you are in an area that experiences other natural phenomena, just adapt these suggestions to fit your needs.

1. Have children express their feelings. Youngsters will be able to draw pictures and dictate sentences, while older children will be able to illustrate their own stories. With everyone participating, this will draw out your shy, timid children who may not want to take part in a verbal discussion.

2. Make a bound book of class’ experiences and keep it in class library. Perhaps you can have students ‘rent’ it for a night to share with their families.

3. If you do not have Pen Pals, why not try to find a class in another part of country or world that has not experienced a hurricane. Your pupils will then become teachers as they explain what happened.

4. Instead of writing, your class could make a cassette or videotape. If sending it to Pen Pals, make sure you check on privacy policies in your school.

5. Use children’s experiences to have lessons on adjectives, adverbs, similes, and onomatopoeia.

6. Answer who, what, where, when, why, and how as you write opening paragraph of a story. Do it on overhead projector and obtain input from class members.

7. This would be a good time to teach specificity and Voice Writing Trait. Compare these two stories and tell which is more specific and exciting: a. Yesterday, a hurricane came to my city and caused a lot of damage. I was scared because it was loud. b. On September 3, 2004, Hurricane Frances roared into West Palm Beach like a lion. I felt terrified as I heard howling wind and crashing surf. When I could survey damage, there were humongous trees blocking streets and houses missing roofs; some mobile homes looked like a pile of sticks.